Here’s My Number… Call Me Maybe

My wife and I were attending a coworker’s Christmas party and she introduced us to a woman who was her good friend. I remembered the woman.  Mona had mentioned her at work. Months earlier, Mona came to work one night and appeared bleary eyed and tired.

“Mona,” I said. “What’s wrong? You look worn out tonight.”

She explained, “I don’t know what to do. My best friend calls me every day between ten and eleven o’clock every morning. I try to tell her that I’m sleeping, but it doesn’t seem to register with her and she keeps on calling and talking to me. I’m so tired.”

I tried to explain to Mona, “She doesn’t understand. People who have never worked the night shift think you should be awake and available to talk when they are. You have to make her understand what it’s like for you. Call her some night about two a. m. and start talking to her. Let her feel what it is like when she calls you at ten o’clock.”

Several nights went by and Mona looked more and more tired. She had a day off and when she came back to work, she looked awake and refreshed.

 “You look so much better. You must have slept on your day off.” I told her.

“I did what you suggested. I called my friend at two thirty in the morning. My friend asked, ‘What’s wrong Mona?’

“I said, ‘Nothing. I just wanted to talk.’ She fairly screamed into the phone. ‘What! It’s two thirty in the morning. Are you out of your mind?’”

“I quietly explained to her that when she calls me at ten in the morning, it’s like me calling her at two in the morning. I heard a small, ‘Oh!’ on the other end of the telephone.

“Then I said, ‘Good night. I’ll talk to you tomorrow afternoon.’ and I hung up.

“My telephone rang about four thirty that evening. It was my friend. She told me that she still wanted me to be her best friend and she still wanted to talk. Finally I understand now what you were trying to tell me. From now on, after you wake up from your sleep, please call me and we can talk.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Mona said and went off to finish her work with the patients on the floor.